The good times are about to get even better (and we’re not talking about Amazon HQ2).

The Dallas economy, which has been booming for eight years, will soon get a turbo charge boost from corporate tax cuts, courtesy of the Republican Congress and President Donald Trump.

A major criticism of the tax reform law, passed last month, is that it largely benefits rich corporations and families. Well, Dallas has plenty of both, so it’s a good bet the region will see a lot of upside.

Five major employers — including AT&T, Exxon Mobil, Texas Instruments, and Southwest and American airlines — have income tax expenses that top $1 billion annually. For another 15 publicly traded companies in Dallas-Fort Worth, tax bills top $100 million a year.

Many of these companies have paid roughly 35 percent of profits to income tax, and the new law will reduce their tax rates sharply. That creates a significant windfall for a region that already has momentum.

“We’ve had so much prosperity here,” said Keith Cargill, CEO of Texas Capital Bank in Dallas. “Our companies have made a lot of profits over the last several years and paid a lot of taxes.”

The new law cuts the federal rate to 21 percent and puts the United States on par with most other countries.

For corporations, the tax cut will total over $1.3 trillion in savings over the next decade, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. It’s the biggest element in the tax law, outstripping the value of cuts from a higher standard deduction and the favorable treatment of so-called “pass-through” entities.

For the moment, it’s all blue skies for much of corporate America and their shareholders, and some of the good news is already trickling down to employees.

Bonuses and perks

About 250 companies have announced bonuses, pay raises and other perks, citing tax reform as the catalyst. At least 3 million workers are in line to get a special bonus, according to Americans for Tax Reform.

Many critics have dissed such moves as a publicity stunt and public nod to the president and Republicans. Soon after Walmart unveiled bonuses and pay raises for workers, it announced that it was closing 63 Sam’s Club stores — a reminder of the limits of tax policy on business decisions.

While tax cuts will boost corporate profitability and cash flow, it’s unclear what companies will do with the extra money.

“Will they hire more, increase employee wages, invest it to grow their business and pursue acquisitions?” wrote S&P Global Ratings in a report this month. “Or will the excess simply be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases? The answer is probably some mix of all of the above.”

AT&T was among the strongest advocates for the tax cuts. In August, it held a town hall meeting at its Dallas headquarters with a key lawmaker, and CEO Randall Stephenson encouraged employees to push Congress to act.

After the bill passed last month, AT&T said it would give a $1,000 bonus to over 200,000 workers and invest an additional $1 billion in 2018.

AT&T stands to be among the biggest beneficiaries of tax reform. It had almost $6.4 billion in income tax expense in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, more than twice as much as Exxon Mobil and Texas Instruments, according to Bloomberg data.

AT&T’s effective tax rate in the third quarter was over 37 percent.

By sector

How much companies ultimately save on taxes will vary by industry, deductions and profitability. The telecom business is projected to boost earnings by over 17 percent, according to UBS Securities. Close behind are retail (almost 16 percent), transportation (15 percent) and homebuilding (14 percent).

American Airlines’ income tax expense tops $1 billion a year, but it doesn’t actually pay cash taxes because of enormous losses in the past. Still, the company awarded $1,000 bonuses to employees (as did Southwest, JetBlue and others). Eventually, American said, there’s no doubt that the new tax structure will have positive long-term benefits.

Banks are projected to be big winners, too, and Texas Capital Bank will feel the upside immediately. Its effective tax rate will drop from 34 percent last year to 22 percent, CEO Cargill said. It expects to add about $42 million in incremental profit to a bank that earned $197 million in 2017.

“We’re gonna use it to continue to grow and make more loans and expand our business,” Cargill said.

Texas Capital specializes in loans to businesses and has locations in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and San Antonio. It’s paying bonuses to all employees, including about 900 who are not in performance-based programs.

The company wanted to send a message to workers — and the tax cut helps.